Baked Chili Cheese Dogs

I hope everyone had a great weekend! The first half of ours was pretty good. We got lots of errands done on Saturday and then had a game night with friends on Saturday night. Yay! Then Sunday morning Superman woke up with some kind of flu and ended up throwing up all day long, poor baby. Otherwise the weekend went too fast as they always do.

I made something for dinner on Sunday night that I've only made one other time. It's super easy to make and your whole family will love it! We had it with fries...not the healthiest meal, but it sure was good. Check it out if you are looking for something fast and easy (as well as really messy!) to make for dinner!

Baked Chili Cheese Dogs (adapted from Quick & Easy Recipes)

• 8 Hot Dogs
• 8 Hot Dog Buns
• 1 Can of Chili with no Beans
• Cheddar Cheese, shredded
• Mayonnaise
• Spicy Ranch

1. Line the inside of each hot dog bun with mayonnaise and spicy ranch. Fill with hot dogs and squish into a 9x13 baking dish.

2. Top hot dogs with chili and cheese.

3. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

4. Enjoy your super easy and delicious meal!

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Sunday Social

Want to know why I love Sundays right now? Because of the Walking Dead. I am soo sad that tonight is the last one for the season! Since it's Sunday already it's time for some more Sunday Social questions!

1. What is your ideal way to relax?
Watching TV while doing stuff on my laptop. Either playing video games or blog stuff usually. 

2. Where is your favorite place to be?
My favorite place to be is at home doing the stuff I mentioned in the above answer. As long as the babies are all sleeping nicely and not waking up crying randomly. I love my kids so much but it's nice when they all go to bed for the night. 

3. Who do you consider your favorite role model?
I would say definitely my parents. I hope I can raise my children as good as they raised all of us.

4. What does your life look like in 3 years?
About the same I would imagine. Except hopefully no more diapers and no more baby things everywhere.

5. If you could go back and change one decision, what would it be?
I would change my major in college. I wish I hadn't switched it and stuck with my original one. I originally was going for Graphic Design but switched to Criminal Justice instead.

6. What is your biggest accomplishment in life thus far?
Well this one is pretty easy to answer. For sure it's my 3 babies. Being pregnant with twins was difficult but it was all worth it. All of my boys are perfect!

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Snapshot Saturday #2

 
If you follow me on Instagram you will have already seen these. It's only pictures of the boys this time because I had some others I was going to use but then accidentally deleted them from my phone. So here's our weekly snapshot review:

Little Spiderman being goofy for the camera.

Superman has suddenly started playing with his food. He built a lovely tower of pizza last weekend. He's gotten so picky lately, normally he likes pizza. 

This is what happens when I try to get a picture of all three together. It's hard enough with just the two babies but add in Superman and it's pretty much impossible. As you can tell he doesn't like to be that close to his little brothers yet. 

Batman is helping with the cleaning already. 

My big boy sitting nicely for a photo with is favorite stuffed animals. 


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Fitness Friday (30 Day Shred Results)

 

 

Have any of you ever done the 30 Day Shred workout from Jillian Michaels? I've had the DVD for awhile just sitting around but in February I finally decided to actually do it. I've never been one to stay motivated very long or to keep working out more than a few days, but this time I've been doing good! I started February 8th and I'm still going strong, working out 5-6 days a week. I plan on starting to add running outdoors as soon as the weather gets nice as well! 
 
Anyways, about the workout. It's been great! The first 4 or so days after I started were awful. I could barely move, but after that I got back into the swing of things. I'm still doing the workout because I don't really have much else to do at the moment. I wasn't sure if it would make that much of a difference to work out or not but it did for sure! I took before pictures of course because I need something to compare to when it doesn't seem like anything is happening. Oh and I haven't lost any weight since starting to work out at all, so that's a little disappointing. I know muscle weighs more than fat though, so that's probably why. 
 
Here's the 30 day results for me. I didn't do the diet that they say to do with it, I tried to eat a little better but didn't really change much. That's my next thing to start working on though! Keep in mind that I've had two pregnancies (including twins) two c-sections and a third stomach surgery in the last two years, but I'm working hard to get my abs back again, if that's even possible! From the front you can't see much difference at all. Now I just need to figure out what to do next to keep working at it...

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9 Months Old...and Getting into Trouble Already!

Oh these boys, they are so goofy. They crack me up everyday, all three of them! The twins just turned 9 months yesterday. Yes, it's been that long already. I can't believe it either...

I would say they are getting big so fast, but they aren't really all that big. They are actually pretty small. Still wearing 6 month clothes with ease. Wearing size 3 diapers for awhile now, but I found a few size 2's still in the diaper bag this past weekend and we used those up just fine. (Shows you how often we actually use the diaper bag, doesn't it?) The other day we were at the store and somebody guessed their age as 5 months old.

Spiderman has two bottom teeth and I don't see any new ones coming in anywhere. Batman has just one on the bottom. Perhaps he is working on his second one down there, I'm not sure, he really won't let me see. He has always been the bigger of the two by one pound since they were born. They have their 9 month appointment this afternoon so I don't have their measurements yet. He still seems larger though.

Spiderman is always smiling and being silly. He loves the camera it seems. Both of them are very talkative, but no real words yet. They are also very mobile but instead of an actual "crawl" they do a sort of inch-worm thing. Getting up on their hands and knees and pushing forward then getting up again, pushing forward, etc. It's very cute and it sounds slow but they are actually quite fast at it now. Now they just need to learn how to move their hands forward too!

Batman loves to climb. He climbs up on boxes. He climbs on his brother. He climbs on anything he can get to. They both really like to play with each other and are now starting to get interested in their older brother as well. Following him around and getting him cornered so he can't get out seems to entertain everyone. My poor Superman was a bit frightened of them at first, and would cry for help when he got cornered. Now I think he's getting used to them and even tries to get them to chase him.

The babies are eating formula now and have been since February. I stopped pumping at the end of January and I thought I had a ton frozen but that went really quickly... They also eat three solid meals a day and love snacking on puffs, crackers, muffins and pancakes. They have recently tried rice but I don't think they cared for the texture of it. They also had some black beans and mashed potatoes this week for the first time. I need to start feeding them more of what we are eating.

They are doing so great and are so much fun to have around. I can't believe how lucky we are to have such sweet and happy boys. Now if they would just work on sleeping a little better at night...

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Toddler Mini Muffins

My oldest little guy used to be a really good eater. He wasn't picky and would eat everything I gave him. Lately he's started to not want to eat much at all, unless it's something he really loves. I have trouble finding healthy snacks for him to eat. Here is one that I have found that he usually likes (his tastes seem to vary by the day). My other little ones enjoy them as well.

These mini muffins are the perfect size for toddlers to eat. I made the batch and then froze it and can take one out when needed. They have lasted me quite some time now. I even tried one to make sure they tasted good and they actually do! Healthy and full of vegetables and they won't even know it. What other healthy snack items do you server for your toddler? I need some ideas!

Toddler Mini Muffins (adapted from Allrecipes)

• 1/2 Cup Butter, softened
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Large Bananas, mashed
• 1 Jar Baby Food Squash
• 2 Carrots, grated
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 1 Cup Flour
• 1/2 Cup Oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 24 mini muffin cups.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Mix in mashed bananas, squash, grated carrots and beaten eggs. Stir in he flour, oatmeal, baking soda, spice and salt until combined.

3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

4. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely.

As you can see, Superman really liked them the first time he had them! (Also these pictures make me laugh)

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Pepper Jack Meatloaf

"You guys have your hands full!" That's pretty much what random people say to us all. the. time. Yes, yes we do have our hands full but it's great and I wouldn't change it for the world! I guess they just don't know what else to say to our three babies so close in age. Then they find out they are all boys and they think that's even worse for some reason...

So if you happen to be in the same boat as we are...with your "hands full" you might be looking for some easy and family friendly recipes to try. Well you're in luck! I am going to be sharing some great ones that we love right here! Lately my husband is all about the meatloaf so I've been trying different ones. This Pepper Jack Meatloaf is my favorite so far, you'll have to let me know what you think!

Pepper Jack Meatloaf

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 1/2 Tablespoon minced onion
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups pepper jack cheese, shredded
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a loaf pan.

2. Mix meat, celery, minced onion, oatmeal, eggs, salt and pepper together well. Press half of the mixture into the loaf pan. Place cheese on top. Top with the remaining meat mixture and press down to seal.

3. Bake covered lightly with foil for 30 minutes.

4. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees, remove cover and continue to bake for 20 minutes or until edges are bubbling and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

5. Let sit for 5 minutes, slice and serve!

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Sunday Social

I'm so excited guys! We took a little road trip this morning to pick out and reserve a chocolate lab puppy. She won't be old enough to come home for a couple more weeks, but she is a little cutie! Once we pick her up I'll be posting lots of pictures of her I'm sure.

Today I'm linking up with the Sunday Social and letting everyone get a chance to know a little bit more about me. It's all about three's today:

1. What are the top 3 things you can't go a day without doing?
Checking Facebook, (I know, how awful haha) seeing my babies, and drinking a cup of coffee...and I never used to have that problem until this last year.

2. What are 3 things that scare you the most?
Something awful happening to one of my family, snakes and deep water.

3. What are 3 places that you want to see before you kick the bucket?
Ireland, New Zealand, and Italy

4. What are 3 movies you will always love?
That's kinda hard to pick, I love a lot of movies...Beauty and the Beast, Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Ocean's Eleven.

5. What are your 3 favorite current songs?
This one is also difficult because I don't listen to music that much right now...I know it's so predictable but I love "Let it Go" from the Frozen soundtrack, "Overcomer" by Mandisa and "Blessings" by Laura Story.

Snapshot Saturday #1

Snapshot Saturday is obviously all about photos. Photos from the past week is what it is supposed to be, but since this is the first one the photos are recent, but not just from this week. I am so excited to start blogging again! (Yes I had a blog before but I neglected it for far too long and have decided just to start over fresh).

Yesterday morning was awesome, the babies slept in until 630, which was unheard of! Superman even slept in until almost 7am. This is craziness, people. We are normally up around 5 or 530 at the very latest. So I was hoping that this would be a new trend for them but no such luck. This morning we were back to 530 again. Oh welllll, someday it will happen....

And now for some snapshots!

1. It was kinda nice out one day (although not sunny at all) so we went out on the deck to check out the back yard. Superman did not enjoy this very much as you can tell from his sad expression.

2. The babies are going to be 9 months old already next week! How did this happen?!? These little cuties are getting into everything these days. This one is Spiderman, the smallest of the two.

3. And of course here is Batman, the little drool-monster. He has one tooth in on the bottom and perhaps is getting the second one but he really does not want me to see. Spiderman has 2 little teeth on the bottom.

4. I thought this was pretty hilarious. Of course he had perfect timing to spit right when I took a picture! He thinks it's pretty funny too it looks like.

5. My big boy is growing up so fast! Look at that great smile he has when I can actually catch it on camera.

6. I took this one this morning. Yesterday was the first day of spring so of course we woke up to a snowstorm. We don't have much snow left anymore and I can't wait for it to get warmer so we can spend time outside! You can see our garden boxes we made last year, I'm so excited to plant some vegetables! Now I just need to figure out what would work best in there...

Hopefully you all are having a great weekend! (Like anyone is actually reading this yet! haha)

-Stephanie

Hello and Welcome!

Good morning everyone! Welcome to my brand new blog! It is still very much a work in progress as I edit the design of the site as well as come up with some awesome blog posts. Stick around if you want to be entertained by stories of my three little superheros, see some cute baby pictures (who wouldn't want that?!) and find some great family recipes to try! Hope you have an awesome weekend!